California Penal Code Section 288 - Case Laws Example

In People v. Memro (1995) 11 Cal.4th 786, the defendant was charged with first degree felony murder based upon a violation of Penal Code section 288, which prohibits the commission of a lewd and lascivious act upon a child who is under the age of 14 years. The defendant in Memro enjoyed taking photographs of young boys in the nude, and he had escorted his victim, seven years of age, to the defendant's apartment with the intent of taking photographs of the victim in the nude. When the victim said he wanted to leave, the defendant strangled him and attempted to sodomize his dead body. the trial court admitted magazines and photographs possessed by the defendant containing sexually explicit stories, photographs, and drawings of males ranging in age from prepubescent to young adult. The Supreme Court concluded the trial court did not abuse its discretion, because 'the photographs, presented in the context of defendant's possession of them, yielded evidence from which the jury could infer that he had a sexual attraction to young boys and intended to act on that attraction. The photographs of young boys were admissible as probative of defendant's intent to do a lewd or lascivious act with the victim.'"